this is "nightline." >> tonight, when football turns fatal. he was a star quarterback, pe loved on and off the field. then he died suddenly after a game. now the autopsy revealing new details about what happened. are we doing enough to protect young athletes? she dances in bol wood, she sings exotic songs with pitbull. ♪ feeling so exotic she won miss world. priyanka chopra is a leading lady in the u.s. too. >> you're not my type. >> the star of "quantico" on why she wants to make it in america. and life on mars? >> this will come as quite a shock to my crew mates. >> a discovery that seems straight out of the new movie "the martian." >> surprise! >> what they found on the red

planet that is making waves across the solar system tonight. but first, the "nightline 5." >> who wee! you know how to speed up your cleanup. >> hello, race car driver. in my kitchen. bounty with dawn multi-purpose cleaning towels. >> long-lasting power of dawn with endurable bounty? awesome. >> they're water activated. one towel can clean your whole kitchen. and the suds dry clearer. do you think i can drive? >> sure. >> bounty with dawn multi-purpose cleaning towels. beat up your cleanup. more kids are suffering from asthma

and we still have no limits on carbon pollution which can lead to more asthma attacks in children but senator toomey has voted repeatedly to let polluters keep releasing unlimited carbon pollution into the air. and took more than one million dollars from the polluters. tell senator toomey to vote for the clean power plan, because unlimited pollution shouldn't be a right. but playing outside should be. good evening. we begin tonight with the sudden death of a popular high school

football player. it happened after he was injured on the field in new jersey and it's just the latest in a recent string of similar accidents. now with so much at stake, critics are taking action. here's abc's gio benitez. >> reporter: friday night under the lights. evan murray, seen here in a previous game, commanding his new jersey high school football team to what fans hope will be another win. then in an instant, everything changes. the 17-year-old star quarterback from warren hills dying after taking hard hits on the football field. a mystery for days. now solved. just hours ago, an autopsy revealing the three-sport star died of massive internal bleeding from a blow to his spleen, which was already enlarged. >> it was overwhelming, quite frankly. we all dread such news. it was terrible. >> really, really kind and genuine kid. he had a good heart. >> reporter: during the game friends say murray took at least two hard hits. the last hit right in the

stomach. murray walking off the field with help from teammates but collapsing in the sidelines. then getting up again to give everyone a thumbs-up. just hours later, he would be pronounced dead at the hospital. the news bringing his teammates to tears. hundreds of kids and teachers mourning. especially murray's girlfriend. sharing these images of the couple on instagram, smiling on the beach, happy teenagers. her last caption reading, "i lost the love of my life in a football accident." >> everyone cheers for him at football games, basketball, baseball. he's a really good kid. >> reporter: friends remembering that good athlete with top grades. those who knew him are just beginning to pick up the pieces and come to terms with the loss of who many say was a leader. >> carried himself so well. everywhere he went. a lot of people look up to, kids look up to. >> he was a good example for everyone as a son, as a friend. >> reporter: murray's one of three high school football players to lose his life related

to an on-field injury just this season. that compared to five high school football players in all of 2014. 16-year-old tyrell cameron from franklin parish, louisiana, dying after a "undisclosed injury" in early september. a similar tragic fate for ben hamm, 16, from oklahoma where he died two weeks ago from a head injury after spending a week in the hospital. the statistics are chilling and read like an epidemic. an average of 12 high school football players die every year from football-related injuries. primarily from cardiac failures or brain trauma. in evan murray's case the autopsy report suggests he was already on that field playing football with a condition, that enlarged spleen. >> a direct blow, hard enough in a the right angle, especially if the spleen is already enlarged, can result in this terrible

result. >> reporter: dr. julian bales is a neurosurgeon. portrayed in the upcoming movie "concussion" all about heavy hits on the field. >> you have no idea how bad this could get. >> if there's any doubt you've got to sit that player out. on the field treatment in today's world really involves a very conservative approach. so if there's any concern at all that someone is suffering any kind of injury they're pulled out of the game. >> reporter: evan murray isn't the only high school student to die as a result of an abdominal injury. 15-year-old taylor hogan died after this fatal blow on the field back in 2010. a tragic and unexpected end for a young man who grew up with three passions -- family, faith, and football. >> he had it all planned. he was going to play for the university of florida. he wanted to major in engineering. and was going to be a gator for the rest of his life. >> reporter: taylor spent his life dedicated to the things he loved most, with a 4.0 gpa,

numerous church missions, and he was a determined wide receiver. >> he'd drop the ball a lot, especially early on. he wasn't known to be the greatest receiver but his heart was in it, his soul was in it. he just kept going. he never quit, never gave up. >> reporter: on august 30th, 2008, taylor and his team were playing a scrimmage. in the fourth quarter, taylor lined up to make a play. >> as i threw it over the middle, he went up into the air, caught it. and at the same time, he's hit by the safety and the linebacker. he went down hard. >> he didn't move for a couple of seconds. then got up. tried to go back into the huddle. and they yelled from the sidelines that he needed to come off. he was wobbly. staggering. they could tell he needed to at least sit out a play. and he made it over to the sideline on his own. >> once they laid taylor down, i could tell his color did not

look good. the doctor was there. and he kind of concured the same time, that look, we've got a real problem. >> i got messages saying, call back, it's about t., and i absolutely had 100% confidence that i knew what the phone call was. i was completely confident in my mind that t. had just caught a touchdown pass. >> reporter: taylor was placed in an ambulance and rushed to the hospital. >> he lost consciousness in the ambulance and never regained it. >> reporter: doctors discovered his liver had been ruptured by the blow. >> at one point i thought that he was trying to wake up. and in my heart i'll always think that. because i held on to him. and he was squeezing my hand. as i talked to him. so i believe in my heart that he was trying to talk to me. that he was trying to tell me,

it will be okay. >> reporter: after hours of emergency surgery, taylor continued to bleed to death internally. doctors telling them there was nothing more they could do. >> after we cut off the life support -- held him in my arms. and watched him pass away. i felt his spirit and soul leave this place. and go to a better one. >> reporter: after he died, they realized a few other kids were wearing eagle shield shirts designed to protect your ribs and organs. but since it isn't a required piece of equipment the team wasn't provided with these. >> we basically turned to each other and said, okay. if we're going to do something with youth sport safety, we've got to do it now. >> it was so obvious to us. >> reporter: they created the taylor haugan foundation to help

other children get access to eagle shield shirts. his parent believe that had taylor been wearing that protective garment, he would have had a greater chance of surviving that impact. tonight we've asked what kind of protective gear evan murray was wearing friday night. but we've not heard back. meanwhile, a friend of murray's launching a gofundme campaign, raising over $50,000 for his family, who tell us tonight there are no words to express how touched we are by the overwhelming outpouring of love and support. his memorial service will be held on wednesday. for "nightline," i'm geo benitez in washington, new jersey. >> we are thinking about that family tonight. our thanks to gio for that report. up next on "nightline," the star of "quantico," priyanka chopra. how she went from bollywood to hollywood. how did she nail our accent? the major new find on mars. this is a sign of life?

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she is decidedly not your average small town girl coming to hollywood with far-fetched dreams of success. priyanka chopra was already a bollywood star and the winner of the miss world pageant. now this singing, dancing, acting triple threat wants to make it in america. here's abc's nick watt. >> i'm a huge fan! >> tell me how much. >> reporter: do you recognize this woman? probably not. not yet, anyway. ♪ >> reporter: priyanka chopra is

a bollywood superstar, box office gold over there. there are places on this planet she can't walk down the street without being mobbed by adoring fans. she's a kind of indian scarlifer. >> miss world 1999 is -- miss india! >> reporter: she's a one-time miss world. >> absolutely delighted! >> reporter: she sings, dances and acts in bollywood blockbuste blockbusters. ♪ >> reporter: and now a twist of fate. >> i met kelly lee, vp of casting for abc, at a party. >> reporter: and to cut a longish story short, chopra landed the lead on a big primetime american tv network show. >> welcome to the fbi academy at quantico. >> i had to do the american accent very hard. it was very hard for me to roll myrs. it took three days to say --

okay. alex parrish, counterterrorism task force. >> reporter: "quantico premiered has it night on abc. >> please, i've already figured you out. >> i think there will be a lot of the messages that come out with "quantico." >> how well do you know these people? >> i don't understand. >> the bigger picture is going to be let's try looking at people other than the obvious. let's start, okay, so you're indian, do you love chai? actually, i don't. i don't do yoga. which is horrible, i'm a bad indian. >> reporter: terror attack. >> an explosion rocked grand central terminal in new york city -- >> reporter: thrusting young fbi recruits -- pulse-pounding plot lines. and just a little loving. >> it's a sexy show. you will see good-looking people will have relationships. but it will never be like not tasteful, know what i mean? >> who are you?

>> reporter: bollywood, where suggestive flirting reigns, was perhaps the perfect training ground for this. >> jack in the box, do we have time? >> reporter: chopra did go to high school here, she's not a total fish out of water. although high school here wasn't a happy time. >> i had some major like racist issues when i was in school. >> really? >> it really got to me. >> racist issues, schoolyard bullying? >> yes this one girl hated me, janine something. it's because of you i became this, janine. i should find you on facebook. she was just really evil to me. she hated me. she and her coterie of like ten girls were these bad-ass girl hot would throw people into the lockers. >> reporter: a multi-talented chopra has dipped her toes in american entertainment waters before. i first met her a couple of years ago in a studio here in l.a. while she was laying down her robin thicke cover.

♪ ♪ if you can't hear what i'm trying to say ♪ >> you've cracked india. why not just enjoy that? >> i cracked being a model too. why do i go into acting? i'm still working in india, it's not like i'm leaving. >> reporter: she has two major indian movies premiering in the next few months. >> i'm balancing both. i think i'm greedy when it comes to being creative. i want to be able to do everything. >> greedy? >> i am. i love my job. ♪ >> reporter: cracking america has its hurdles. her pop single "in my city" was the nfl thursday open. ♪ come to a party in my city >> reporter: some people didn't like a foreigner as the face of a very american sport. >> there was a lot of user comments that called me an arab terrorist. i was offended on two accounts. one, why is every arab a terrorist? second of all, how am i arab? i'm indian. haters going to hate, potatoes going to potate, who cares.

america's been hugely encouraging to me and extremely accepting. >> reporter: she rolls with it. >> i think i've been a famous person for long enough to know that you can't please everyone. ♪ i feel so >> reporter: chopra recorded with pitbull "exotic." apparently you get a lot of offers like that. generic, exotic, foreign roles if you're a certain color. >> i was the exotic arabian princess. the shows have always been a little bit in the box. i like to think outside of the box. >> are you telling me you think one of these people is a terrorist? >> reporter: which brings us back to quantico. chopra was drawn to the alex role because her skin color wasn't written into the script. >> you already know what happened next. >> she was ethnically ambiguous. i want to be taken seriously as an actor, not for the color of my skin. >> they've arrested me and they won't tell me why! >> i read 26 scripts, i

remember. "quantico" was my favorite. then i met the makers. they met me, liked me, i liked them, it just kind of happened. >> reporter: play an ass-kicking fbi recruit falsely accused of being a terrorist. she showed ginger zee a little of what that entails. >> hit. fall this way. >> well done! >> reporter: chopra's star is rising here in america. crowds are gathering. an established celebrity elsewhere almost starting anew over here. >> you come here with very little currency in this country. >> correct. >> so how are you -- >> they say america's the land of dreams. and i've come here with wanting to be the best that i can be. >> reporter: aim high. the face of a primetime network show. there's one thing i know for sure about precede yawn ka chopra -- she's not afraid of

anything. i'm nick watt for "nightline," los angeles. up next, new hope for life on materials? mars? why buzz for matt damon's upcoming movie "the martian" got eclipsed by nasa's latest discovery. ♪ ♪ (under loud music) this is the place. ♪ ♪ their beard salve is made from ♪ ♪ sustainable tea tree oil and kale... you, my friend, recognize when a trend has reached critical mass. yes, when others focus on one thing, you see what's coming next. you see opportunity. that's what a type e* does. and so it begins. with e*trade's investing insights center, you can spot trends before they become trendy. e*trade. opportunity is everywhere. i tried depend last weekend. it really made the difference between a morning around the house and getting a little exercise. only depend underwear

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and we still have no limits on carbon pollution which can lead to more asthma attacks in children but senator toomey has voted repeatedly to let polluters keep releasing unlimited carbon pollution into the air. and took more than one million dollars from the polluters. tell senator toomey to vote for the clean power plan, because unlimited pollution shouldn't be a right. but playing outside should be.

finally here, the internet is going nuts tonight and for once it has nothing to do with cats or kim kardashian's backside. the fuss this time is over a scientific discovery that puts

our normal human preoccupations into interplanetary perspective. here's abc's david kerley. >> reporter: it sounds like something sci-fi. but nasa's mars orbiter has seen something only imagined. >> liquid water has been found on mars. >> reporter: the essential ingredient of life on the red planet. look closely. during the summer months, little riff ouellee rivelets develop. that scientists say is salty, even briny water which disappears in winter. billions of years ago mars had an ocean. was there life then? with this discovery is there life now? >> the discovery really is most exciting because it suggests that it would be possible for there to be life today on mars. >> reporter: it could also change a manned mission to mars. water on that planet means that astronauts, if they travel to mars, may not have to carry

water and other resources. >> is this really a breakthrough for humans to visit mars? >> we could use that water, use that water to drink, of course. to break up into its parts. hydrogen, oxygen. breathe the oxygen. hydrogen/oxygen is a great rocket fuel. >> right now only rovers like curiosity are on the surface of mars. with the discovery of water, a human visit becomes a bit more of a possibility. people down here on the original blue planet, having some fun online with the announcement. sharing this very literal take on the discovery. and this updated snapshot of the mars rover. >> in your face, neil armstrong. >> reporter: some joking on twitter that it's all an elaborate promo for a matt damon movie about a mission to mars. >> i've done the math. checks out. >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm david kerley in washington, d.c. >> i wouldn't put it past that crafty matt damon. thank you, david kerley, for that report. thank you for watching abc news toni